Two Winnipeg high schools closed after threats received Sunday; both to reopen Tuesday, one with police presence

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This article was published 16/12/2024 (484 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police will be at a Charleswood high school when students and staff members return Tuesday.

The Pembina Trails School Division said there will be a police presence at Oak Park High School following a Sunday-evening “non-specific” bomb threat.

The school did not open Monday.

“There will be a police presence at Oak Park… to support the school in a return to regular classes,” Pembina Trails superintendent Shelly Amos said in an emailed statement. “Our divisional clinical support team will be on-site to provide assistance to staff and students.”

Police swept Oak Park, which has since been declared safe to enter, Monday morning.

Amos said the school division wouldn’t make any more comments pending the police investigation.

The move comes after Oak Park and Elmwood high schools received separate bomb threats Sunday. Elmwood also cancelled its classes Monday.

“The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and we are working with law enforcement and the superintendent’s department to ensure everyone’s well-being,” an email to parents of Elmwood students said.

Winnipeg School Division superintendent Matt Henderson said the division closed the school out of an abundance of caution.

“These types of threats are very, very rare, and they come at different times,” he said. “Because this one came on a Sunday evening, we had a little bit of time to operate really cautiously and ask students and staff not to come.”

Police finished a sweep of the Elmwood school at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, Henderson said. A skeleton staff was on site to ensure anyone who missed emails and phone calls was directed to leave.

There will be support staff on hand on Tuesday at Elmwood, but no police presence.

Henderson said it was the first time in 2024 that a school in the division has been shut down for a day due to a threat.

The WPS’s major crimes unit is heading up investigations at both schools.

“The schools have chosen to remain closed today while these investigations continue,” police said in an emailed statement. “Additional updates by the police will follow.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca